Love is A Funny Thing
by CrazyApplesandOranges
Summary: When Fleur leaves Bill, he is devastated. With no clue how to get out of the depression he's in, Hermione helps him by being his friend-and by the end, so much more.


A/N: This is a story that one of my reviewers asked for me to write. I hope this is what you wanted, dragongirl2101!

Bill collapsed on the couch heavily, watching Fleur as she disappeared out the door. It was over. She was gone; he was alone. He dropped his head into his hands, wondering where he had gone wrong.

Maybe it was his face. Greyback had done a number on his face, and he wasn't as handsome as he used to be. But that shouldn't be enough to scare her away. Was it?

He sighed and forced himself up, using his wand to summon a bag. He walked outside and looked back at the house.

He would sell it the first chance he got.

/\/\

Ron and Harry's apartment was crowded with Bill staying there. Molly and Arthur had taken a trip to visit Charlie, and they wouldn't be back until the next week. He would've stayed with George, but the younger redhead was swamped with paperwork—Fred had always been the one to do it. Bill knew that he would be roped into helping his brother if he tried to stay there.

And there was no way in hell he would even _think_ about asking Percy to stay with him.

So he was there when Hermione decided to visit her friends, and both Ron and Harry happened to be at Auror training.

"Bill?" Hermione blinked when she saw the eldest Weasley brother sprawled out on the couch, face buried in a pillow. He raised a hand in greeting, not bothering to roll over and try to have a conversation. He was too depressed to talk to actual people.

"Bill, what's wrong? Why aren't you at home with Fleur?" Hermione asked, dropping into a crouch next to him.

Bill raised his head long enough to say, "She left me," before retreating back into his mental shell.

"Oh, Bill," Hermione rubbed his back soothingly. For a long time they didn't say anything, just sitting there in the dark room.

Finally, Hermione said, "Maybe you should tell me what happened. Harry and Ron have told me that I am an excellent listener."

Bill sat up and stared down at the woman in front of him. "There's nothing to tell," he muttered, dropping his eyes to the ground. "We were eating dinner when she up and packed her stuff. Said that she didn't want me anymore and walked out the door."

"There had to have been a reason," Hermione said quietly, sitting down next to him on the couch. "No woman just up and leaves her husband for no reason at all. Did you do something?"

"No," Bill shook his head. "I mean, she has been distant the past couple months. I just thought it was because she was thinking about her sister."

"Well, it wasn't that. She would have told you," the brunette mused. "It must have been something she did."

"Can we not talk about her?" Bill asked.

"Sure. The best way to get over someone is to forget them." Hermione smiled.

/\/\

Over the next few weeks, Hermione and Bill talked more and got closer. Bill had never really noticed the witch until now, only thinking of her as his little brother's friend. Now she comforted him when he thought of Fleur, calmed him down when he got angry with his wife, and made him laugh when he needed it.

He hadn't thought about what Fleur leaving would do for his relationship with her. But it was official when an owl arrived carrying divorce papers: he had no hope of fixing whatever had Fleur mad enough to leave him.

A note fell to the ground when he opened the package, and he bent to pick it up. Hermione looked up from where she was cooking some dinner for them and paused in stirring the spaghetti. She didn't ask what it was. She knew by the look on his face.

Bill read what Fleur had written on the half sheet of parchment a second time—_I need this back ASAP_. No explanation as to why she had left. Just a piece of paper telling him to send the papers back as soon as he could.

He sat down in a chair heavily, staring down at the paper in his hand. "Why?" he whispered. "Why did she leave me?"

Hermione came to stand behind him, reading over his shoulder. She bit her lip as frustration overcame her; she had never really liked Fleur in the first place.

"Bill," she announced. The redhead tilted his head back to look at her. "Sign those papers and get ready. We're going out."

Bill gaped at her as she walked out of the room.

/\/\

When Bill was ready, Hermione took his hand and led him through the streets, keeping him distracted by talking brightly. About Harry and Ron, their friends, Molly and Arthur, who had come home and demanded to know why Fleur was nowhere in sight when they saw their son.

They had promptly helped Bill find a new apartment, and had helped him move in.

"Where are we going?" Bill asked. Hermione grinned.

"You'll see."

She was silent for a while, glancing at the signs to make sure she was going the right way. "We're here," she finally announced, and Bill looked around. They were in some part of Muggle London, a part that he had never been to before. They were standing in front of a café, a sign above their heads saying what it was called, but it was dark enough that Bill couldn't read it.

"I used to come here with my mum and dad." Hermione said quietly. "Whenever I had a bad day, or there was some reason to celebrate, we always came here. It was my favorite restaurant, and some of my good friends work here."

Bill nodded. Hermione led him inside out of the chilly night air, and he looked around as she smiled at one of the waitresses. The walls were a soft tan color, with red areas marking where paintings lay on top of them. All in all it had a soothing atmosphere, and Bill found himself relaxing as Hermione led him to a table in the back.

"Thank you," he said to the brunette as he sat down. She looked up and smiled.

"For what?"

"For being there when I needed you."

/\/\

Four years later, and Bill is once again standing in his parent's backyard, dressed in a suit as he waited for his fiancée to join him. His life had definitely changed as he got over Fleur leaving him. For one, he had fallen in love with Hermione.

And she loved him back, which was enough for him.

As they said their vows, and he kissed her softly, he grinned. Everything had turned out just fine, even if his heart was broken before he found his happiness.

Mentally, he thanked Fleur for leaving him and forcing him through the tragedy that was his life the first couple weeks of being single again.

A/N: This honestly didn't turn out the way I thought it would, but at least I finished it! I don't think this Bill/Hermione is my forte, but thank you dragongirl2101 for giving me a challenge. It was very interesting. Please review, and PM me if you have any story ideas that you would like me to write. I will gladly do it, even if it is a while before it gets done.


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